


all in ghostly silence

by tasteofdreams



Series: Drabbles of Ice and Fire [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: ASoIaF drabbles, Grief/Mourning, House Stark, Stark family feels, The North Remembers (ASoIaF), drabble challenge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-16 16:44:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18695395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tasteofdreams/pseuds/tasteofdreams
Summary: Songs of mourning.





	1. the cost of a crown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Family, Duty, Honor.

The weight of his crown bears him down into the earth, long before the Freys turn their cloaks and his chest is opened by a lion’s claw. 

He was but a child, thrust to the head of a man’s war, and the list of the dead grows longer every day. He sends them off to battle, men he admires, boys he sparred with in the yard, and each Northern son who does not return is another wound he must ignore. 

Grey Wind prowls restlessly by his side, and Robb longs for the peace of his wolf dreams. He dare not speak of them, fears the whispers that would follow, but some days he feels more wolf than man. 

The boy he was is gone - swallowed by the loss of his father, the expectant gazes of his men, their fateful cries as they crowned the child he used to be. 

His mother remains to him, where little else does. The urge to retreat into the security of her love is strong, but his men are wary and he knows he must stand alone, cannot falter, even for a moment.

Then the raven comes. His grief overwhelms him, and all is lost.

  



	2. but she remembers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This woman's work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from the epilogue of 'A Storm of Swords'.

The endless parade of bodies cannot satisfy her bloodlust. Lannisters, Freys, Boltons, she executes all without remorse. 

She will not be content until every tree is heavy with corpses. Until the land that bore her is saturated with the blood of those who slaughtered her children. 

She does not tire. Rage drives her. Hatred is all the sustenance her ravaged body requires. She will not stop until they are destroyed. 

_Mother Merciless_ , they whisper. _Stoneheart_. She is not what she once was. Vengeance is all that remains - and the litany of names carved into the aching emptiness in her chest.

  



	3. homecoming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sansa returns to Winterfell.

Sansa has been living with ghosts for years now. Even the unwelcome memories - the rush of Ice through the air, Joffrey’s cruelty, Cersei’s glee, the serpentine twist of Petyr’s voice - carry a certain familiarity that grounds her. She has grown almost comfortable with the way she remains a prisoner to her past.

Or so she thought, until the day she stepped through the gates of Winterfell once more.

Here, the dead press in close, until she can scarcely breathe for the weight of all she has lost. All the North has lost.

And yet, she will not abandon the ruins.

  



	4. as empty as me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The she-wolf of Winterfell, after.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from A Storm of Swords, Sansa VII.

The rhythms of her old life are ingrained in her bones, she discovers. Winterfell is burnt, a hollow shell of the home it once was, and every inch of it aches with echoes of its past. Of her own.

When Sansa closes her eyes, she can almost believe that she is back in the Winterfell of her childhood, in that time of innocence, before her dreams were shattered, her family slain. The memories are so close here, so dear, woven into the stones of the castle, seeped into the earth like the blood that was spilled within its walls.

She pours what fire is left to her into rebuilding. The castle is in ruins, but her people have followed her home, and it is in them that she sees the future of the North. She is determined not to fail in this, desperate not to betray her family’s legacy. Perhaps, if she reclaims the North in their name, the spirits of those she loves will finally be at peace.

Her strength frays. She feels broken, lost to the souls who shadow her steps. It is too much, and yet too little. It hurts, and it heals. Sansa wishes to flee. She yearns to stay. She cannot put these ghosts to rest, but she can make space for them inside the castle. Inside herself.

For unrelenting years, she longed for home, for her family. Here, now, she has returned to Winterfell at last, but the past is out of reach and there is no-one left to save.

Only her people, looking to her for a salvation she doesn't know how to give.

Sansa feels hollowed out, empty, half a shade herself, haunting the desolate halls of her home. They are all that remain to her now: these ruins, and her ghosts.

  



	5. brothers in arms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ned grieves the loss of his friend.

Perhaps his grief should be muted, given the distance between who they’d each become. But Ned cannot quite separate the bitter, selfish king Robert grew into from the loyal brother who charged into the dragon's lair in the name of House Stark.

He almost wishes he could. There is anger, yes, disappointment, certainly, in how far Robert fell. But there is affection, too, and guilt, for the necessary space Ned placed between them. For the secrets he kept.

He cannot but grieve the man he loved.

Perhaps everything changed. Perhaps King Robert was worlds and years away from the boy raised with Ned. He himself, however, has never claimed to be so changeable. His loyalty to Robert was fierce, when they were young. It endures still.

As he was steadfast in life, Ned will not fail Robert now, in death. The Lannister woman has no allegiance to her late husband, will usurp House Baratheon in favour of her cruel little lion.

Ned and Robert would have died for one another, once. The years changed them, but Ned will fight for Robert as he did then. He will defy Cersei for his King. He will stand against armies for his friend.

**Author's Note:**

> An ongoing drabble challenge, to be updated whenever I find time/inspiration, in which I write (double/triple) drabbles in a short space of time and force myself to post them, raw, immediately. Many aspects of which are challenging for me, but that's the whole point, so here we are.
> 
> Title from my favourite passage: A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.
> 
> With an oceanful of thanks to Snick for her patience and encouragement - this wouldn't have happened without the kindness and support she and Gel have offered me. Love you fishwives <3


End file.
